This week's tablehopper: on the town.

How was your weekend? It turned out to be pretty dang nice, no? On Friday night, I had a fun jaunt to the Outer Richmond to peek at the soon-to-open Marla Bakery, stand by for details in next week’s column. Later that evening, I also checked out the new chef’s menu at Elite Café—it was fun to go with a fellow SF old-timer and slip into one of the private wood booths, talk about flashbacks. Chef James London is doing some really great things to shrimp and grits, let me tell you.

Sunday was a double play, starting with a multicourse brunch by Ante Meridian at Naked Kitchen (chef Anthony Yang made a delicious rice porridge with togarashi pork). And then that evening was the annual Star Chefs & Vintners Gala, benefitting Meals on Wheels. All the chefs, bartenders, and vintners brought their A game to the sold-out event, which raised approximately $2.6 million! Way to go, and special kudos to gala chef chair Nancy Oakes of Boulevard for everything she does to make the event so special.

So, pretty much every week I have someone ask me, “How do you do it all?” The answer is espresso. Ha! For those of you who would like a peek into 24 hours of my crazy but wonderful life, the fine folks at Bacchus Management Group asked me to write a 24-hour diary for their Bacchus magazine, go ahead and check it out.

Speaking of coffee and glorious espresso, have you heard about the screening tonight at the Castro Theatre of A Film About Coffee. It looks like a beautifully shot documentary, see you there? There will be coffee! There will only be tickets sold for a couple more hours, FYI.

Lastly, I want to repeat that this Friday June 6th is the annual Summertini at the Bently Reserve, and there are still tickets left! This event is a fundraiser for ECS and the CHEFS program, which you all know is a cause that does so much to help the homeless population here in SF. The lineup is looking great, with bites from A16, Nopa, Park Tavern, Heartbaker, and Foreign Cinema, plus cocktails from Trick Dog and Cantina. Oh yeah, and fab auction items, bring your credit card.

tablehopper readers can buy tickets at a $30 discount off the $130 ticket price. Just use code tablehopper14. I really hope to see you there—it’s a great event, and a crucial fundraiser for their many important programs.